Joshua Voss, PhD | Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute | Florida Atlantic University | 5600 US 1 North, Fort Pierce, FL 34946 | Lab Phone: 772-242-2393
Coral Reef Health and Ecology Lab
  • Home
  • News
  • People
    • Current Lab Members
    • Lab Alumni
  • Research
    • Mesophotic Coral Reefs >
      • Flower Garden Banks
      • Cuba
      • Carrie Bow Cay, Belize
      • South Florida
    • Coral Health & Disease >
      • Restoration Team Trials
      • Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease
      • St. Lucie Reef
      • Oil, Dispersant, and Disease
    • Project CLOUD
  • Publications
    • Papers
    • Presentations
    • Google Scholar
  • Teaching
  • Opportunities
  • Photos

Notes from the Field: Carrie Bow Cay Aerial Mapping

3/31/2017

 
In addition to the mesophotic reef exploration and sampling objectives as part of Ryan Eckert’s Master’s thesis, we decided to incorporate aerial exploration and mapping into our research activities at Carrie Bow Cay. Specifically, our goal was to adapt the quadcopter aerial mapping procedure developed from Project CLOUD to a field-based reef mapping survey. The Smithsonian research station on Carrie Bow was an ideal location for reef mapping, as it has ample dock space for launching and recovery, it is surrounded by shallow water patch reef, reef crest, and seagrass habitats, and it boasts Caribbean water clarity and color. We developed the plan in conjunction with our Smithsonian Institution contacts, adding the production of a high resolution, georeferenced aerial map to our research deliverables.
 
Belize, however, has much more strict regulations regarding drone import/export and flight applications than the United States. With the appropriate permits and Customs inspections upon arrival in the country, we were successful in bringing our DJI Inspire 1 out to the station. Over several days, we conducted test flights to determine the optimal time of day resulting in the highest contrast and water penetration, while reducing sun glare off the water surface. Once we determined that 2:00 PM produced the best images due to reduced wind chop and solar glare, we began to systematically “mow the lawn” while taking downward-facing photos. We flew grid-like patterns over the surrounding reef, capturing photos of overlapping features to ensure downstream photomerging in image-editing software. To learn more about the aerial mapping procedure, visit the Project CLOUD page here.
 
Overall, we were able to capture the majority of the shallow water habitats surrounding Carrie Bow in five flights over three days. During the week, we also recorded GPS coordinates of island landmarks for downstream georeferencing in ArcGIS. Additionally, we were fortunate to be able to fly the quadcopter to the nearby Curlew Cay, a now-subsided barrier island to the south of Carrie Bow.
 
This mapping application has really pushed the boundaries of the protocol we developed for Project CLOUD. Carrie Bow is the first environment we have mapped that could not be fully captured over a single flight, or even over a single day. As a result, we generated nearly 500 images contributing to the overall map, far more than Photoshop can handle and merge at once. As a result of file limitations and slight differences in exposure and color across each flight day, we first had to merge portions of the photos together, and eventually those sections into a final map. With some creative color correction to match across seams, we produced two maps: a full-scale, map including all the habitat coverage, and a cropped, poster-format map. Both maps have been georeferenced using the GPS landmarks and therefore can be used for spatial analyses and for generation of media outputs within the Smithsonian. We are pleased with the adaptability of our mapping protocol to complex environments, and hope that these maps will be useful for informative applications of habitat differentiation and media outreach.

Post written by Michael Studivan.

Created with flickr slideshow.

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    May 2022
    March 2022
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    March 2012
    November 2011
    June 2011
    August 2010
    February 2010

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.